Home Office

Passports: Applications

Chloe Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase the efficiency of the passport renewal process.

Robert Jenrick: His Majesty’s Passport Office remains fully resourced following its significant increase of over 1200 staff between April 2021 and last summer. With the continued introduction of process improvements, HM Passport Office has processed more than two million applications across January and February, with over 99.5% of standard UK applications being processed within ten weeks and 95.5% being processed within three weeks.

Attorney General

Fraud

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Attorney General, what plans the Government has to tackle the harmful emotional and financial effects of fraud on vulnerable and elderly people.

Michael Tomlinson: The Government recognises the devastating impact of fraud on people’s lives, particularly the elderly and most vulnerable people in society. Raising awareness and safeguarding victims will form a key pillar of the Government’s forthcoming Fraud Strategy which will be published shortly. We will work with industry to remove the vulnerabilities that fraudsters exploit, with intelligence agencies to shut down fraudulent infrastructure, with law enforcement to identify and bring the most harmful offenders to justice, and with all partners to ensure that the public, including older and vulnerable people, have the advice and support they need.